Lord Of The Rings, The (The Motion Picture Trilogy Soundtrack) [ECD] - Various Artists > Reviews > Highly effective, but hugely overrated.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Superb variety of instruments, one very strong theme .  Memorable moments .  Exceptional value for money .
Disadvantages:	A lot of similar material .  Howard Shore .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Lord Of The Rings will undoubtedly be one of the great trilogies of all time, thanks to the genius of Peter Jackson.

The soundtrack will undoubtedly not be one of the great soundtracks of all time. It's not memorable in the way that Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Gladiator (to an extent) - and all the other films which contain strong themes. Is there a Lord Of The Rings Theme - I can think of one, but it's not exactly up there with the great ones.

HOWEVER!!!

The music that was made for this film, was HIGHLY effective. It just worked with the picture, and I think that's the main issue with the soundtrack. It won't do a great deal for anyone that hasn't seen the film. Apart from the Enya songs, and the various pieces featuring specific musicians (Emiliana Torrini) - there is not a lot here that makes this score stand out. If you have seen the film however - this soundtrack trilogy can bring back a lot of fond memories.

Some inside information. The Lord Of The Rings music budget was 6 million pounds per film (that might be wrong - it might had been the whole trilogy - but I was told it was per film).

The soundtrack - definitely sounds like it's worth 6 million pounds. The recording is exceptional, and the orchestral forces (London Philarmonic Orchestra) are HUGE. Add to that the choir of the London Voices and the London Oratorio, and musicians required to play instruments from around the world (hardanger, Irish flute, pan flute, rhiata etc..) Shore (or his contractor) spent his money well.

There's not a lot to criticise in terms of what the soundtrack does for the film, I along with many others enjoyed the film greatly. But - as I've said before - without the film - this soundtrack doesn't mean a great deal and will never be right up there. For me as a professional musician, this keeps me divided on to whether this score is truly great or just another run-of-the-mill score that works well with the picture (there are MANY).

The truly great scores are the ones that stand out on their own by themselves as pieces of music - The Incredibles is a good example - but that's because that score harks back to the golden age of film music (60s).

For me it's a workman like score, that has been put into a truly great product. It is also Howard Shore's best work to date.

My only other gripe is in fact with Howard Shore the man - he refuses to credit all the people that work with him. Anyone that works in the film music industry - knows that NO film composer these days (Because of time constraints) - can do the ENTIRE music for the film - they hire orchestrators (people who flesh out the ideas that Shore comes up with). Orchestrating properly is without doubt the hardest and most time consuming job. Yet Shore takes credit himself because he has his own company that does it all with him. This is the same with any film composer (Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson Williams etc...) - it's a fact. The difference between them and Shore is - is that they credit the orchestrators. So next time you buy a soundtrack - just take 2 minutes to look at the credits and see who orchestrated the work - and spare a thought for them - because normally they are locked away for days pouring sweat and blood in making the score come to life. When you buy a soundtrack - you will see 'Music by "name of person" ' - but that person is always employing a team of people underneath him who don't get the credit they deserve.

I have digressed.

As for the actual item - it is exceptional value. I feel for the people who bought the soundtracks individually when they could have saved themselves about 30 pounds for these 3 soundtracks altogether - which is great.

No doubt Lord Of The Rings lovers will have this by now - becuase as a product it's great., I am also sure that I will get slammed for this review by anyone who reads it that likes Lord Of The Rings - but I'm writing as a musician listening to a piece of music, not as a fan of a film franchise. It's a fair review - I may have been a little harsh because of my dismay at Howard Shore's lack of respect to his helpers.

For nostalgic moments and for listening to BIG orchestral forces - this is a soundtrack that just abouts merits its place in your CD rack. I'd like to give it 3 and a half stars - but I can't - so I gave it 3.